Holiday helmets for share bikes:

A free helmet trial has been introduced for the school holidays as part of Melbourne Bike Share.

The free helmets are available at all stations for the next 12 weeks with about 165 helmets distributed across the system’s 51 bike stations and 600 bikes.

The RACV is the operator of Melbourne Bike Share on behalf of the Victorian Government and General Manager Motoring & Mobility, Gordon Oakley, said the helmet trial was an exciting development for the program.

“We believe the trial will encourage people to use the scheme and discover how fantastic Melbourne Bike Share is, whether it’s exploring different places throughout the city or just to get across the city in a quick and convenient way,” said Mr Oakley.

“By placing free helmets on some of the bikes at all locations across the city, we believe it will encourage more spontaneous use of the system. The free helmets will be clearly marked. However, those who prefer to buy a new helmet can do so for just $5 at existing outlets and from vending machines.”

Mr Oakley said all helmets will be replaced once a week and helmets that remain on the bikes after use will be inspected, cleaned and recycled and placed back at the bike stations.

“Free helmets have been trialled in Brisbane through the CityCycle scheme and the plan has met with success, with those bikes with free helmets being used three times more than bikes without helmets.”

Mr Oakley said it was encouraging that usage of the bike share system was continuing to grow with rides per month increasing between 10 and 20% and an annual usage growth of around 30% in the last financial year.